Blog Post 2

“I am going to beat you!” When someone says a quote like that what comes to mind? For me I wonder what caused someone to say such a thing, or what the situation is that caused the person to become violent. I also wonder what this beating entitles. In the case of a Fullerton Homeless man the quote ended up meaning his life was going to be taken. In the article by Joel Rubin and Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times these men discuss how a recording ended up catching Officer Manuel Ramos stating the quote “I am going to beat you!” to homeless man Kelly Thomas. The authors really show that the recording technology helped convict the officers in this case. I believe without the recording technology it would have made it very difficult to come to a conclusion in this particular case.

After reading the article I then realized that the authors do not state whether or not Kelly Thomas was under the influence of drugs. The authors however do state that Thomas did not have any alcohol or drugs on his body. It would have made a lot more sense why Officer Ramos was being violent if Thomas was under the influence being more combative and belligerent than a normal citizen, which is why the situation ended up being escalated in to a physical altercation. Further research in the Los Angeles Huff Post stated that Thomas was actually a mentally ill man. When an officer responds to a call where they are going to be interacting with a mentally ill person the contact should be handled differently than opposed to an individual who is totally coherent and responsive.

Mentally ill individuals sometimes do no react with the same emotions as other individual, so it would have helped to know how Thomas was responding to Officer Ramos’s commands. The article states clearly that the recordings by Officer Ramos shows an aggressive tone. Without that key piece of evidence it would be a he said she said case, which would ultimately get tied up in the court system. In the article by Joel Rubin and Richard Winton they also discuss the effectiveness of personal cameras. I believe the personal Officer cameras would be a great tool in preventing unnecessary violence and bad accusations in the future. Although they are quite expensive, the investment will be well worth it. This is just another example how technology can help society.

L.A. Times- http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0923-kelly-thomas-audio-20110922,0,4325329.story

Huff Post Los Angeles- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/21/kelly-thomas-death-police-charged_n_974237.html